The invention relates to a device for the infusion of fluids into the human or animal body, comprised of a metering device which can be carried on the body or, preferably, can be implanted in the body, said metering device exhibiting a delivery unit for the dosed delivery of the fluid from a supply container to the discharge aperture of a catheter and further exhibiting an appertaining operating circuit, and an external control and/or programming device, wherein the operating circuit in the metering device and the control circuit in the control device can be inductively coupled for the purpose of operational signal transmission, to which end at least one transmission coil is provided in the control device and at least one reception coil is provided in the metering device.
Such a device is meant to be employable, in particular, for insulin infusion for diabetes therapy as a so-called "artificial pancreas".
A device of the type initially described is known from the U.S. Pat. No. 4,077,405 in which an external control and/or programming device is alloted to an implantable device housing with the delivery and metering unit. The control device is constructed as a program generator for an on-off valve in the metering device, such control device containing, in detail, a control signal generator, a program memory, a program input unit for inputting a time or switching frequency program, as well as an information generator for displaying, for example, the prorgram state, the time of day or other information. Beyond that, an implantable infusion device is known in which the delivery and metering unit is specifically formed by means of a roller pump which is controlled by means of a stepping motor. In such a case, it is already provided to monitor the running of the roller pump in that a magnet is assigned to each pump roller which periodically closes a reed contact when the pump is running and generates a signal. These monitoring signals essentially serve for readjusting the roller pump in the operating circuit of the implanted device. Thus, a back-coupling of the function of the delivery and metering unit to the operating circuit is provided in the implanted device in the prior art.